Woodside's improbable rally sinks Menchville 4-3

"Really, I told them I didn't care whether they lost or not at that point," said Shaffer, whose team was down 3-nil at the break. "I just wanted them to be able to hold their heads up and look themselves in the face and come out strong."

The Wolverines did that. Woodside scored twice in the final five minutes of regulation to force overtime, and Zach Harris' goal less than three minutes into the first overtime capped a 4-3 comeback win. The Wolverines (5-2, 2-0 Peninsula District) beat the Monarchs for one of the few times in school history.

Few could have seen it coming at halftime, at which point Menchville was in total command. Even Matt Mendonca's goal eight minutes into the second half didn't seem to change the dynamics all that much.

With roughly five minutes left, Lorenzo Puentes scored off Harris' assist to make it a one-goal game. Then, in the final minute of regulation, Menchville (2-3-1, 1-1) was called for a hand ball in the box. The Wolverines were awarded a penalty kick, and Harris scored to tie it.

Woodside got only one shot in the two overtime periods, and Harris converted. A remarkable comeback was complete.

Harris had seen the blueprint a day earlier.

"I was watching a Manchester game from 2001, and they were down 3-nil at halftime against Tottenham," Harris said. "And they came back and won 5-3.

"At halftime, I basically told everybody to cut the crap. We had to come out and play, and we did. It means a lot to us because we've lost to Menchville since my freshman year six times. They're supposed to win it all, and we beat them."

For the Monarchs, it was a bitter finish. Coach Dan Liebler clearly didn't like the condition of the field, which had some rough patches, or the officiating.

"When you have conditions like this on the field, it's hard to get some sort of flow of the game," he said. "Anything can happen at any given minute, whether you're a good team or a bad team.

"One mistake can lead to one ball getting through. Then you throw in some questionable calls, and the next thing you know you've got some trouble."

Menchville, in fact, does have more trouble. With about three minutes left in regulation, senior Rue Custis was given a red card for what an official said was "foul and abusive language." Custis will have to miss the Monarchs' game against Kecoughtan on Tuesday.

Harris, who finished with two goals and an assists, almost didn't play Friday. He bruised the top of his right foot in Tuesday's 6-0 win over Hampton.

"I wasn't going to as of yesterday," he said. "But this morning, it felt really better."